Dying Changes Things
by princess-of-queens
Summary: "If you have any ounce of seeker in you, Dreadwing, you will make it through this. Primus, if you have any ounce of Starscream in you, you will happily walk away from the Med-Bay" I shouted at Dreadwing as I charged up the defibrillators once again - Knockout's POV


"Knockout" I heard Breakdown's voice echo as he entered my Med-Bay. I was sitting in my deck in the far corner, reading over one of my medical reports. I automatically noticed that Breakdown's usually perky, playful tone of voice was now worrisome. I quickly looked up to see what was the matter. I saw that he was carrying a rather large bot in his arm. Like clockwork, I jumped to my feet and rush to their side. Once I was close enough, I could see who the wounded bot was.

"Dreadwing?" I huffed, running my servos over his slender face. He looked up at me with sad, weak optics. Once he realized where he was and who he was with, he offlined his optics.

"I told ya' I would get ya' into good servos" Breakdown said, clearly speaking to Dreadwing. I looked up at Breakdown and cleared my throat.

"As good of servos as ever" I gloated, looking at my perfectly sharpened talons, as I stepped out of the way to let Breakdown by. "Mind telling me what happened to him? Or better yet, what's wrong with him?" I asked while Breakdown rushed Dreadwing over to the closest berth. I quickly grabbed my tools and intravenous drip hook ups for Dreadwing. My optics narrowed when Breakdown turned the overhead lights on, making the room extremely bright.

"A deep stab wound to the left side of his chassis, right above his spark chamber" Breakdown told me. "His wings are dented and you know how seeker's wings are; they need to be fixed as soon as possible"

"I am well aware of that, this is not the first seeker I have repaired" I snapped "But, his wings can wait. It sounds and looks like the stab wound is the worst of his injuries. Breakdown, you know what to do" I handed him the IV lines and the hook ups to my monitors. My assistant nodded and went straight to his work. I grabbed a large needle and syringe from the tool cart. As if Dreadwing heard me fill the syringe with sedatives, the seeker shot his head up and looked at me. I turned to face him, trying my hardest to hide the smirk on my face.

"Knockout" he called, his voice hardly loud enough to hear. "Is this going to hurt?" I lookde up at Breakdown, who gave me his usual sideways grin. I sighed and looked back down at Dreadwing, forcing a friendly smile on my face.

"Of course not, commander" I answered him "You will be awake and on the road to recovery in no time" Dreadwing tilted his head and looked at me for a while before lying back down on the berth. I stepped toward him, placing a reinsuring servo on his shoulder. Dreadwing looked up at the dull purple light above his head as I plunged the needle into his upper arm. "You'll be out in a minute or two, and you won't feel a thing" I added. Dreadwing nodded yet again, but still kept his optics on the light. I pulled the needle out once all the sedatives were released into Dreadwing's Energon system. I turned away and went to the sink to wash and throw away the used needle.

"Ya' can look at the light all ya' want, just don't go toward it, alright?" Breakdown chuckled, placing a hand on Dreadwing's shoulder, were mine was just seconds ago. I rolled my eyes and mocked Breakdown behind his back as I walked back over to them. I looked over the monitors, making sure the Dreadwing's vitals were stable.

"Breakdown, he'll be going under any second" I warned, pointing a slim claw at Dreadwing. Breakdown turned toward me and sighed.

"B-Breakdo-own" Dreadwing said, his speech starting to slur. Breakdown's looked back at Dreadwing "Tha-thank you…for ge-getting me her-here" Breakdown gave our commander one last smile before Dreadwing went into recharge.

"Hurry" I said, pushing Breakdown out of my way so I could look over Dreadwing chassis wound. "Before his automatic repair system's kick in" I leaned forward and looked closely at how deep and how much damage the wound had caused. "Ah, not as bad as I thought, nothing major actually. Just a couple torn wires" I informed Breakdown. But as I rubbed my hands over the burnt metal and let two of my fingers seep down into the hole, I noticed a small flow of warm Energon heading toward his spark chamber. "Scrap" I hissed, shaking my head in frustration.

"What?" Breakdown looked for my shoulder, pressing against my back.

"I do believe his chamber wall has been worn thin, Energon has already started to leak through the cracks." I grabbed a clamp and placed it against his chamber, clamping down hard on the sheered metal. Energon rushed past the clamp and started purring out of his wound, spattering all over my face. I growled and used my free hand to wipe away the Energon from my optics.

"Knockout" Breakdown shrieked from behind him. "Do something!" My claws wrap around the clamp and press down hard on Dreadwing's chassis.

" . .it!" I shouted, keeping my optics on my work. "Now, do you mind helping me and handing me the Suction tubes" I heard Breakdown fidget behind me has he looked for the tubes.

"Right here" he rumbled once he found them. I shifted my weight to one leg and looked over my shoulder.

"Great" I snarled "Now do you mind removing the energon before he bleeds out" Breakdown leaned over top of me and laid the end on the tube on the edge of Dreadwing's chamber. I looked up at the monitors, his Energon levels were normal at the moment, but they would start dropping if I didn't stop the bleeding.

"What now, Knockout?" Breakdown walked around the berth and stood on the other side of Dreadwing. I kept my optics down, focusing on the severed Energon-Line that ran down Dreadwing's chassis and out through his left arm.

"I need to tie off this Energon-Line" I said.

"But that is a main line" Breakdown leaned into my light and pointed his rounded digits at the end of the torn Energon-Line. "You can't tie it off"

'It will buy me some time to fix the chamber wall" I looked up at the worried wrecker, his face dropping down into a frown. I exhaled heavily and pulled my servos out of the wound. "I will do everything in my power to have him back to the way he was. But for now, tying off the line is his best bet. Every second that we waist, more Energon is leaking into his spark chamber" Breakdown looked up at me, but his frown never left.

"What do I need to do?" He asked, his voice light and somewhat hurt.

"I want….no I need you to calm yourself down first, ok?" My optics narrowed, I could feel myself becoming impatient. "I can handle this on my own, why don't you go sit down. I'll call for you if I need you" I simple said, turning to face the monitors one last time before beginning my work. Breakdown took a seat in the chair just off to my right, where he could watch me work and he was in whispering distance. I quickly decided to use a stick tie. A stick tie was a more secure technique to control bleeding from Dreadwing's Energon-Line.

"Since when did you and Dreadwing become such great friends?" I asked, trying to take Breakdown's mind off the possibility that the seeker would not make it.

"We have always got along" Breakdown said, his voice back it its normal self. "But with Megatron working ya' to the pits with this…..relic scrap, I had to find someone else to tag along with" I gave him a small chuckle as I reached over and grabbed another, even smaller, clamp from my medical cart and grasped the end of the Energon-Line, tightly. "What about you, Knockout? You have never seemed to like Dreadwing? What has he ever done to you?"

"Nothing" I replied "He is a good soldier and I have the utmost respect for him. I just don't care for him as our commander and second in command at the Decepticons" I added before gently lifting the Energon-Line up, into my range of sight. Using my free hand, I reached over to my cart and picked up a long needle that was attached to a thick, elastic suture.

"So that's what it's all about" Breakdown snorted. "You still can't get over Starscream not being around" I felt a small growl leave my mouth, but I wasn't sure if Breakdown heard it or not. I took one last deep intake before passing the needle through the center of the Energon-Line just under the clamp. Bring both ends of the suture toward myself, again, under the clamp. Once I repeated the technique once more, I tied the suture securely. Once I was done, I remember what Breakdown had said moments ago.

"I do miss Starscream, Breakdown. I truly do. And to see someone like Dreadwing just show up and take his post makes me angry. After all, you have to admit, we were doing a lot better with Starscream as our commander…..and lord" I said, mainly talking to myself, but I knew Breakdown heard me.

"I guess I never noticed how much he meant to ya'. Now that I think about it, ya' were always with him and always made sure he had the best of your medical care" Breakdown's hummed, clearly not happy with me. I shrugged, but still kept my optics on Dreadwing. I heard a small beep come from Dreadwing's monitor. I looked up, pulling my claws straight out of his chassis and looked closely at the screen. The beeping started getting faster and louder.

"Frag" I gasped, turning to look at Dreadwing. His face was starting to fade in a light blue, which surprised me since his face was naturally a yellowish orange. This could only mean one thing. "He is suffocating" Breakdown shot up from the chair and rush to my side. I ran my decode pad down the side off Dreadwing's chassis and it slide open, reveling his spark. His spark chamber was full of Energon, coating the light blue spark. My mind started racing, my instincts took over. I jumped on top of the berth, straddling Dreadwing as I leaned down into his spark chamber. I cupped my hands and scooped the Energon out of his chamber, purring it onto the berth and the floor. I looked up at Breakdown, who was just standing there watching me. He looked at me then at the floor.

"Stop Knockout" He said, he was very upset "You did everything you could. But, the damage was just to…."

"No" I cut him off with a sharp growl "I told you, and him, I would do everything in my power" I looked down at his spark, all the energon was gone from the chamber but it left his spark flickering and slowly going out. I wiped my face with my servos, wiping the Energon all over my face. "Hand me the defibrillators, now" I ordered.

"But, Knockout, he…."

"I said, NOW" I screamed. Breakdown gulped, running over to the cabinets to get what I needed. I slowly climbed off of Dreadwing and closed his chassis plating.

"Here" Breakdown handed me the defibrillators as he plugged them in and powered them up.

"Clear" I said as I zapped Dreadwing on his upper chassis and his lower right side. His body jolted, but his spark was still failing. "Clear" I shocked him again, still nothing.

"Knockout" Breakdown placed a hand on my shoulder "Please, stop, he isn't coming back"

"I have saved Starscream from worse. Starscream has made it through a million times thanks to me." I told myself, not even listening to Breakdown. "If you have any ounce of seeker in you, Dreadwing, I will make it through this. Primus, if you have any ounce of Starscream in you, you will happily walk away from the Med-Bay" I shouted at Dreadwing. I charged up the defibrillators once again, and shocked him. His spark turned a deep blue but it started to pulse again. Dreadwing's back arched off the table and he took a deep, relaxing breath. The sedatives were what kept him calm and from jumping off the table.

"Knockout?" Dreadwing's tired, weak voice called for me. I turned and looked him in the eyes.

"Yes, yes" I sighed, letting a smile take over my face. "I'm here, and so are you, thank Primus"

"Thanks to you, not Primus" He smiled back at me before falling into a much needed recharge. My eyes widened when I felt Dreadwing's large talons grab hold of mine, his thumb stroking the top on my servo.

"Let's get you fixed up and cleaned up" I looked at Breakdown in hopes that he would help. He smiled and nodded at me.

"I'll get the sealant to fix the cracks in his chamber" Breakdown offered "If you'll start working on his wings" Unlike other medics I used solid carbon dioxide, also known as dry ice, to pop out dents. Nothing was faster and cleaner to use on our armor then dry ice.

"Good as new. If not better than before" I heard Breakdown snicker at my comment. He had finished putting the sealant in Dreadwing's chamber long before I finished his wings. "Is the sealant even and dry?" I asked. I grunted as I stood back up, my joints and back hissing in protest.

"Not as young as ya' use to be, knockout, are ya'?" Breakdown teased, placing a hand on the small of my back to help ease the pain. "And yes, you can unclamp the chamber and reattach the Energon-Line" I nodded and handed him the dry ice as I walked over to the sink to wash my servos. "Do you think Dreadwing is like Starscream?" Breakdown questioned as he put the dry ice away. "You seem to think for them the same"

"No, I do not" I answered. "They are both grand seekers, yes. But they are nothing alike. Although if Dreadwing wanted to start trying to take over as lord of the Decepticons and afterwards come screeching to me for medical support and for me to listen to his ranting, I would not object."

"You know I wouldn't tell anyone if you want to sneak away to see him" Breakdown said "I would and could cover for you for a couple hours" I turned and walked back over to Dreadwing. I quickly pulled the clamps out and placed them on the cart.

"That's sweet, really it is" I told Breakdown as I worked "But I don't think that would be best for anyone. I need to stay here"

"What you need is to do what you want" Breakdown pointed out. I rolled my shoulders back and shook my head.

"Can't talk right now" I wanted this conversation to stop "I'm sewing his Energon-Line back together." Breakdown didn't say another word as I worked, but I felt his optics staring at me. He didn't like the things he just learned about Starscream and myself. Ever since we joined Starscream here on earth, Breakdown and I had grown apart and I grew closer to Starscream. Now with Starscream gone, sometimes I felt like I had no one. I wasn't sure if that was true…..and I wanted to find out "Finished" I sighed. "Weld a patch over the hole to give it time to heal itself, after you do that you can wake him up. Let me know if he is in pain, but I doubt he will be"

"Right away" Breakdown grinned at me.

"Oh and one more thing" I snapped my digits, Breakdown tilted his head and waiting for me to talk. "About you covering for me while I go see Starscream, is now a good time?"


End file.
